Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1887-08-26

chairs, handsome carved table, ant
] the bookcases and cabinets for tn
relics and pottery are of caryed wal
i nut
Directly above the library is tn
laboratory, where there is a powerful
dynamo, an immense stereopticon,
Photographic outfit, telescope Of grea
power, microscopes, chemicals ant
models of various kinds, and also tn
easel, paint box and easy chair ant
work box and easy chair and work
box of Mrs. Dickerson. 1t is in thi
room that Mr.. Dickerson passes mucl
of his time working at his own inven
tions, some thirty or forty Of whicl
he has patented.
In all this house a window Is neyeI
opened and no dust falls, and this il
managed by a system of Mr., Dicker
sons own invention, and the air il
always as pure and sweet as if they
lived in a camp by the seashore al
through the house from the cellar tc
the roof In every room there is 6
system of ventilation, consisting o
open work places in the floors by the
chimneys and in the ceilings, by
which pure air is brought in and the
foul is carried off constantly night and
day. This is done by an imemnse
opsning in the cellar, and the outdoor
air enters it, passes through Frst 9
filter of sieves filled with cotton wool
which catches every particle of dust,
and then, as if this were not enough,
the air is washed through spray OF
water, end then finally, through the
pipes, reaches the different rooms
! ure and free from any extraneous
matter. The dynamo machine also
in some way which | failed to under
stand occasionally fills the house with
ozone.
There is also an automatic system
of governing the temperature of the
hopse which is beyond me to explain,
though it looks very simple. There
is a great furnace, and the hot air is
carried through many small pipes to
a little engine-room. where it is sub
divided into sufficient quantities for
each room, and, in some indefnable
manner, as soon as TIE room reaches
certain temperature little machine
stops the hot air itself and lets the
cool air have a chance, and thus the
temperature is kept equable all the
time. BY this system you can have
the climate of Florida with it's salt
sea breeze all the year round or you
can have the mountain ir.spicy with
balmy resinous odors. The income
of the pure air is so strong that if
you hold handkerchief by the cor
ners to any of the ventilators it will
be blown out straight Or it will be
dawn closely to the grating by the
counter current of impure air.
The bathrooms and sinks are all
operated upon new principle invent
ed by Mr.. Dickerson, and they pre-
clude the possibility of impure air or
sewer gas. AS far as odor is concern
ed, yon might stand blindfold in any
bathroom and imagine yourself in
the parlor.
All over the house is that immacu-
late cleanliness, and in no place nor
corner is there an odor in the slightest
degree; not even in the kitchen, which
is a model of convenience on scientific
principles. They might cook cabbage,
onions, garlic or even sour crout, and
every breath of odor goes up the fun
mel which hangs like gigantic um-
brella over the range and seizes every
smell before it has chance to disperse
itself through the house, and no hos
pitable odor of cooking dinner meets
one there.
There is a hydraulic dumb-waiter
which carries the food from the cellar
to the second story, where the dining
room is. There is large and very
pleasant servants' parlor, and q laun-
dry with the most perfect possible
arrangements-porcelain lined tubs,
with stop-cocks to carry the water
away, and the hot and cold all arran-
ged so that no dampness can remain
and no stopping occur. There is q
steam mangle and a hot-air room to
Cry the clothes in. The frames for
drying the clothes on slide in and out
and the heaviest counterpane dries in
ten minutes. This hot air after use
in the drying-room is all caught and
carried to the roof and dispersed. A
funnel also carries off the steam which
arises from the tubs. Each room
having its own ventilators, does not
communicate with any other.
All the electric generating appar-
atus, the steam engine, hot-air furnace,
air filterings and coolings and hy-
draulic works are in the front cellar,
while the kitchen, landing and SER
wants perlor are in the back part of
it. There are also bins for different
kinds of vegetables, for wine and fruit
each having its own compartment
and kept at a temperature considered
best adapted, and all the cellar is of
concrete and as clean as parlor
There is an immense ice box, which
is room in reality, in which three
persons could easily stand, and a
round this are shelyes for different
articles,
There is also an automatic elevator
which is the most perfect thing of it's
kind ever seen-absolutely safe and
very comfortable. When you get in
spring closes the door and it cannot
be opened by any means until you
reach floor. Then it opens autom-
atically until you are out, when it
closes tightly behind you of it's own
volition. In short, it can't fall, you
can't pinch your head off, nor hurt
yourself by accident or design, and
it is so simple that child could man
age it. This, too, is Mr.. Dickerson's s
invention, and works by hydraulic
power. These are but few of the
arrangements for comfort, health, and
convenience based upon strictly scien-
tifc principles in this elegant and
model home, but they are all that my
unscientific brain could take in.
OLIVE HARPER.
A Lightning Act.
III. kraus, of Harrisburg, is a gen.